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SoundCore 2

Its 24-hour playtime allows you to live and breathe music, every second of the day. Heighten the experience of every party and any adventure with powerful, distortion-free sound. Then take that feeling with you wherever you go.

Streamlined Connectivity Listen for up to 66ft with latest Bluetooth 4.2 technology, while an in-built microphone makes hands-free calling a breeze. No Bluetooth? No problem, an aux port allows you to plug in and play.

Worry-Free Warranty At Anker, we believe in our products. That's why we back them all with an 18-month warranty and provide friendly, easy-to-reach support.

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When Anker’s SoundCore 2 went on sale, I immediately made the purchase so that I could compare an Anker Bluetooth speaker with those from other manufacturers. Anker is a well-known brand producing quality products. My expectations were high.

Packaging

The SoundCore 2 came in a white and light blue box with black and light blue text on the outside. Inside the box, wrapped in velvety plastic, was the speaker secured by cardboard on all but the top parts. With the speaker were the user guide, “Happy/Not Happy” card and an Anker-branded charging cable inside its own smaller box. Packaging was professional.

Pairing and Controls

Pairing the SoundCore 2 with an iPhone 7 Plus was a breeze. Shortly after turning the speaker on, “SoundCore 2” appeared on my phone. A couple of seconds after I tapped the name, paring was successful, confirmed by tone.

The controls are located at the top of the speaker. They include the power, - (minus), play, + (plus) and Bluetooth buttons. The + and – buttons are used for adjusting volume. The play button is a multi-function button that can be used to pause/resume playback, accept/reject/end calls as well as putting the current call on hold while accepting another call. Additionally, the play button can also be used to switch a call between speaker and mobile device.

On one of the sides are the auxiliary and micro USB charging ports.

Performance

When it comes to speakers, the most important factor for me is sound quality reproduction. Anker’s SoundCore 2 didn’t disappoint. Vocals by a basso vocalist were smooth. Middle frequencies produced by a flute and a clarinet were clear and pleasant. High frequencies from an acoustic guitar were crisp and very satisfying.

The sound of a bass drum was somewhere in between a “punch” and a “boom.” Applying an equalizer app got the bass drum closer to a boom but not quite there. This is an area where the speaker could use an improvement when it comes to sound quality reproduction.

The SoundCore 2 is loud. At maximum volume, it easily filled my 20-feet x 20-feet garage with sound. Bluetooth range was amazing. Without any obstruction in between the speaker and my phone, sound didn’t cutoff until both were about 100 feet apart, producing the best Bluetooth range of all speakers I’ve tested to date.

Phone calls were clear. The speaker has the ability to put an existing call on hold while answering another incoming call. I have yet to see this feature on other Bluetooth speakers. There is one feature that is common with most speakers I’ve tested but not present with the SoundCore 2 and that is the ability to call the last number dialed on the phone the speaker is paired with. This would normally be a double press of the play button but this action is assigned to skip to the next track. I found this to be surprising coming from an Anker product.

In addition to call the last number dialed, I was also surprised by the inability to go to the previous track. Unless I missed this in the user guide, this functionality is not present.

As already mentioned, the speaker has the ability to enable voice control software such as Siri on iOS devices. This is the second speaker I have tested to include this nice feature.

• Can’t go to previous track• Can’t call the last number dialed• No auxiliary cable

Conclusion

Despite the minor quirks mentioned in my review, the pros far outweigh the cons making the SoundCore 2 an excellent choice for a Bluetooth speaker in the $46 (price at the time of review) range. Similar speakers I’ve tested are the Meidong 2110 and the Meidong QQChocolate Medium. While these two speakers are more accurate in terms of sound quality reproduction, they are not as loud as the SoundCore 2. If volume is more important, you can’t go wrong with the SoundCore 2. However, if sound quality reproduction is more important, take a look at the Meidong speakers. I had to switch between all three speakers while writing this review to make sure that my conclusions are as accurate as possible.

My first bluetooth speaker...so far the only flaws I've noticed in sound have been more to do with the nature of bluetooth than the actual speaker. if you just use the aux cable it's a consistently good sound. When it has a nice solid connection or using the aux cable it puts out great volume and depth for its size.

As noted by others, the bass sound is very good for a small speaker and the highs aren't as shrill as some of the JBL ipod docks I owned previously. It seems like a lot of this speaker's power is from resonance with the surface it is sitting on, so if good bass or volume is a concern you should make sure to position it on a solid wood table as opposed to plastic...the sound at the same setting on a beach towel in the grass or sand is noticeably quieter, less clear and punchy than the same setting on a wood stool in my backyard, though still perfectly within my "outdoor background music" range of acceptability. In a "beach" context this actually works out well because this sort of self-limits the projection to only your immediate area of the beach or park, which will bother people who want everyone in the whole world to hear their music but endear the device to people like me who want decent quality sound confined to a small area of the outdoors, and as I said setting it up atop a nice firm block of wood will get you a very noteworthy volume increase.

For gatherings in a backyard where music doesn't have to be crazy loud to be audible, I haven't needed to turn it up all the way, though I could see diming it for groups of 10 or more where conversation creates a lot of interference. It is also surprisingly capable as a speaker system for my projector...since I don't have a television I project movies onto my wall, and this speaker is night and day against the terrible built-ins on the projector while also saving me the hassle of bringing my entire stereo system anywhere I want to project a movie. I haven't tried it outdoors, but I was nowhere near maximum volume in my room so I would imagine that an outdoor screening for just a few people in a quiet neighborhood would be very doable. In fact, my only complaint is that these speakers don't do well with production styles that utilize a lot of clipping...I like a lot of extreme metal, noise, and punk, but this applies equally to a lot of modern loudness-war era hip-hop and r+b. Rolling back EQ helps a bit, but any production style designed to maintain a high level of signal really audibly tortures these poor little speakers at even moderate volumes.